Starship Flight Test 11: Everything That Happened in 11 Minutes

The Starship Flight Test 11 successfully achieved hot staging, a controlled booster landing burn, orbital insertion for Starship, and the deployment of Starlink V3 simulators, demonstrating significant progress for SpaceX.

• Successful hot staging separated Starship from the Super Heavy booster.

• Super Heavy booster completed a controlled 'V3-style' landing burn, demonstrating critical reusability steps.

• Starship achieved nominal orbital insertion and deployed Starlink V3 simulators.

Starship Flight Test 11 marked a series of critical successes, including a flawless hot staging maneuver and the completion of a V3-style landing burn for the Super Heavy booster. The Starship vehicle successfully achieved nominal orbital insertion, subsequently deploying Starlink V3 simulators. This flight demonstrated significant advancements for SpaceX, setting the stage for future capabilities in space.

Initial Launch and Hot Staging

• 00:00:05 The Super Heavy booster successfully lifted off with all 33 Raptor engines fully lit, passing through Max Q, the period of maximum aerodynamic pressure. A critical hot staging maneuver followed at approximately 2 minutes 39 seconds into flight, where the Super Heavy's engines partially shut down while Starship's six Raptor engines ignited to propel it into ascent, separating from the booster.

Booster Landing Burn

• 00:04:06 Following the hot staging, the Super Heavy booster executed a boost-back burn and subsequently initiated its landing burn. This involved igniting 13 center engines, then reducing to five, and finally three engines to slow down for a controlled splashdown in the Gulf, mimicking future landing procedures. This 'V3-style' landing burn was a key demonstration and was successfully completed, confirming the booster's ability to perform this critical maneuver.

Starship Orbital Insertion

• 00:07:01 Starship continued its ascent burn with all six Raptor engines firing, aiming for a suborbital trajectory. The vehicle successfully achieved Second Stage Engine Cutoff (SECO) at approximately 8 minutes 54 seconds into flight, shutting down its vacuum-optimized and then center engines. This positioned Starship on its intended path for nominal orbital insertion, marking a successful entry into space.

Starlink Simulator Deployment

• 00:09:04 After reaching space, Starship proceeded with the deployment of eight Starlink V3 simulators. The deployment process for each simulator took about a minute, demonstrating smooth and clean execution thanks to previous rail tweaks. These V3 satellites are designed to add 60 terabits per second of capacity per launch, a 20-fold increase compared to current Falcon 9 deployments, highlighting a major upgrade to the Starlink network.